The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-12-10


 that mamma has been asleep. She will say this to him herself, and he knows it now p
 The little fellow nodded at me im- pressively, as if he could tell more did he SO choose. But did not think it right to question him, much as the mystery excited my curiosity. More- over, I scarcely think the child would have told me more even if had done so.
 sat still, pondering and continuing to keep the small hand within mine.
 In about half an hour I felt the hand vibrate strangely. Carl, who had been watching his mother, whispered, "Say Elsa"
 "Elsa," said in voice that I know had grown very tender since my trouble.
 The white eyelids trembled the sweet eyes were revealed in all their strange, mysterious beauty. Then a smile flickered over her face, and she said "Let it be always Elsa How I feel myself well with youl"
 "You shall be 'Elsa,' dear, and l. must be 'Joan,'" made answer. And then stopped and kissed her.
 "You will be near me when they shall return, isn't it2" she next said. "They are already late-but they will not yet be here"
 They were late knew it and I had grown anxious, but I had avoided say ing anything about it from fear of alarming her.
 "But they will all return safely" she added, as if reading my thoughts.
 I was completely mystified, but forebore to question her.
 took out from my pocket little volume of Heine's poems-my constant companion-and asked if I should read something.
 'Do, please" she eanswered promptly. "Read 'Nacht liegt auf den fremden Wegen,' and afterward Der Tod, das ist die kuhle Nacht.'"
 read these, and afterward others.
 "How comfortable is your voice, Joan" she said at last, lingering on my name as if it were pleasure to her to speak it. "If were going to die l should like you to be near me as now"
 looked at the fair, youthful face, to which the color had returned, glow ing and very pleasant to see, and could not imagine her as dying, though I had seen her sleep that strange sleep so like to death. She appeared to be in perfect health; the perplexing sad- ness was, felt convinced, of the mind. l wished she would confide in me why didn't she, since she seemed to care for me so much?
 Then remembered my own inabil- ity to confide my own sorrow to any ear, and 1 said:
 "You must not speak of dying, Elsa; you are altogether too young, too we'll"
 A glance which passed between her and the child interrupted my sentence. It was glance of contradiction-of- l cannot say what besides But little Carl moved towards me noiselessly- he was the quickest child ever knew and looking gravely into my face with his steady gaze, his eyes so like his mothers, said: "But we shall soon die. Mamma and l shall die together" !" 1 was spared the pain of trying to dis pei this fancy by the return of the anxiously watched-for party. MT. Cunningham was the first to enter the salon. l could not but remark his paleness, even through the glow mountaineering always produces. He went at once to his wife, who met him with a glad smile. He then took little Carl in his arms in silence. He was usually chatty, and even humorous, so that this silence struck me as very odd.
 "We are so thankful you have re- turned" said. "We have been so anxious"
 "And with reason, I'll promise you" {" broke in Mrs. General Bruce, who en- tered close on Mr. Coningham's heels, accompanied by my niceel and others.
 "We have had such an escape. Noth- ing shall tempt me on a mountain again, rest assured" And then, sud- denly addressing Elsa, she said "How- ever did you get back, Mrs. Coming ham? We were all nearly as frozen as the glacier at the fright you gave us you see, we understood you never went in for climbing. And what ever guide did you get? We had to put up with the veriest impostors for guides. do believe it was their first expedition. But, however, you saved all our lives, for by changing our course to reach you we discovered that what we were standing on was one oi those awful cornices, and it gave way and fell crashing down the precipice the very instant the last of us had left it. We all stood speechless, staring at the gulf that had so nearly swallowed ms up-and then you had disappeared MT. Cunningham declared you were